Booth Events

Friday, July 10

Saturday, July 11

Introduction to ProgrammingLibrarian.org

Saturday, July 11th through Monday, July 13th

10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

Exhibits Hall, Booth #3254
Learn more about a new, free resource from the ALA Public Programs Office to assist librarians in bringing community programs to their libraries, including literature discussion series and author appearances. ProgrammingLibrarian.org includes a resource library, live learning opportunites, and a blog to keep librarians informed of upcoming opportunities and provide inspiration for new library programs.

Capstone Publishers Author Signing in Booth 2039-2040

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. - Graphic novelist and author Donald Lemke

Lemke will sign copies of his celebrated Stone Arch Books titles "Zinc Alloy vs. Frankenstein" and the 2008 Junior Library Guild Premier Selection "Captured Off Guard: The Attack on Pearl Harbor," as well as his popular Capstone Press title "Investigating the Scientific Method with Max Axiom"

Concierge Marketing and Book Publishing Services
Signings in Booth 1727

Lemke will sign copies of his celebrated Stone Arch Books titles "Zinc Alloy vs. Frankenstein" and the 2008 Junior Library Guild Premier Selection "Captured Off Guard: The Attack on Pearl Harbor," as well as his popular Capstone Press title "Investigating the Scientific Method with Max Axiom"

Anastasia Suen will follow her “Nonfiction Book Blast: Booktalks for Reluctant Readers” ALA conference program session on Sunday with signing copies of "The U.S. Supreme Court," a featured title from the panel discussion, and "Uncle Sam," part of the acclaimed American Symbols nonfiction picture book series from Picture Window Books. Anastasia Suen will also sign titles from the brand new Stone Arch Readers series published for fall 2009.

Concierge Marketing and Book Publishing Services Signings in Booth 1727

Al Matheny, "Baghdad FTU"
10:00AM-1:00PM

John Hlavacek, former United Press foreign war correspondent and NBC, Time-Life reporter
1:00PM-4:00PM

Monday, July 13

Anastasia Suen will follow her “Nonfiction Book Blast: Booktalks for Reluctant Readers” ALA conference program session with signing copies of "The U.S. Supreme Court," a featured title from the panel discussion, and "Uncle Sam," part of the acclaimed American Symbols nonfiction picture book series from Picture Window Books. Anastasia Suen will also sign titles from the brand new Stone Arch Readers series published for fall 2009.

Concierge Marketing and Book Publishing Services
Signings in Booth 1727

Author Events

Saturday, July 11

12:00 p.m. Jane Hirshfeld: reading from "After:Poems" with a book signing at 12:30 p.m.

12:30 p.m. Rachel Zucker: reading from "Museum of Accidents" with a book signing at 1:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m. Elizabeth Crane: reading from "You Must Be This Happy to Enter" with a book signing at 1:30 p.m.

1:30 p.m. Ben Greenman: reading from "Please Step Back" with a book signing at 2:00 p.m.

2:00 p.m. Doug Stanton: reading from "Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan" with a book signing at 2:30 p.m.

2:30 p.m. Marcus Sakey: reading from "The Amateurs" with a book signing at 3:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m. Paul Harding: reading from "Tinkers" with a book signing at 3:30 p.m.

3:30 p.m. George Watsky: performing spoken word from his one-man show "So Many Levels" with a signing at 4:00 p.m.

Science Fiction and Fantasy: Uncovering the Modern World of Information, Society, and Technology through Metaphor and Imagination (LITA/Imagineering)

Saturday July 11, 3:30-5:30 p.m. Convention Center W-196c

Distinguished science fiction and fantasy authors R. A. Salvatore, Ken Scholes, Margaret Weiss, and Robert Charles Wilson, Eric Flint, and John Brown will discuss the visionary nature of their craft, how speculative literature suggests new ideas and technologies, and the possible impact the ideas could have on society in the future. Be punctual for goodies!

Monday, July 13

Tuesday, July 14

AUDITORIUM SPEAKER SERIES

Gregory Maguire

Saturday, July 11, 8 a.m.

Gregory Maguire is the bestselling author of “Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister,” “Lost,” “Mirror, Mirror” and the Wicked Years, a series that includes “Wicked,” “Son of a Witch” and “A Lion Among Men.” “Wicked,” now a beloved classic, is the basis for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name.
Maguire has lectured on art, literature and culture both at home and abroad. He is also a board member of the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance, a national not-for-profit organization that advocates for literacy, literature and libraries.

James Van Praagh

Saturday, July 11, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

James Van Praagh is a “survival evidence medium,” meaning that he is able to bridge the gap between two planes of existence, that of the living and that of the dead, by providing evidential proof of life after death via detailed messages. Van Praagh’s unique paranormal experiences during the past 25 years have been recorded in his New York Times bestselling books "Talking to Heaven," "Reaching to Heaven," "Healing Grief," "Heaven and Earth," "Looking Beyond: A Teen’s Guide to the Spiritual World" and "Mediation with James Van Praagh." He has also produced a number of television programs, including a hit primetime series, “Ghost Whisperer,” starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. He has made numerous guest appearances on shows such as “Oprah,” “Larry King Live,” “20/20,” “48 Hours” and “Biography.” Praagh’s new book published in May from HarperCollins Publishers is entitled "Unfinished Business: What the Dead Can Teach Us about Life."

Michael Connelly

Sunday July 12, 8:00 – 9:00 a.m.

Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of the Harry Bosch series of novels as well as "The Poet," "Blood Work," "Void Moon," "Chasing the Dime," and the #1 New York Times bestseller "The Lincoln Lawyer." He is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels. He spends his time in California and Florida.

Wanda Urbanska

Sunday, July 12, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Wanda Urbanska is an expert, speaker and consultant
on sustainability and green living. She is the author or co-author
of seven books, including the forthcoming anthology, "Less Is More:
Embracing Simplicity for a Healthy Planet, A Caring Economy &
Lasting Happiness" (New Society: August 2009); "Simple Living"
(Viking: 1992/ Blair: 2004); "Moving to a Small Town" (Simon &
Schuster: 1996); and "Nothing's Too Small to Make a Difference"
(Blair: 2004). She is host/producer of Simple Living with
Wanda Urbanska, a nationally syndicated public television series
currently in its fourth broadcast season on selected PBS stations
nationwide (www.simplelivingtv.net). She has appeared on
the Today show, CBS This Morning and Oprah, and has been
heard on NPR's "All Things Considered." O, The Oprah Magazine
recently identified her as "the de facto Martha Stewart of the voluntary
simplicity movement." She has published in the Washington Post,
the Los Angeles Times, Mother Earth News, Natural Home, Rotarian,
and American Libraries, among others. A graduate of Harvard University,
Wanda makes her home in Mount Airy, North Carolina.

Junot Diaz

Sunday, July 12, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Junot Diaz exploded into the literary scene in 1996 with "Drown," a collection of short stories that was one of the first books to illuminate the lives of Dominican-American immigrants. Diaz’s first novel, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," is the winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Moving from the hardscrabble inner-city neighborhoods of New Jersey to the barrios of Santo Domingo, and from the fear-plagued Trujillo dictatorship to the multicultural campuses of the contemporary United States, Diaz both redefines the immigrant experience and transcends it. His fiction has been published in The New Yorker and The Paris Review, and four times in The Best American Short Stories. The New Yorker placed him on a list of the 20 top writers for the 21st century. Born in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, and raised there and in New Jersey, Diaz graduated from Rutgers and received an MFA from Cornell. He lives in New York City and Boston, and is a tenured professor at MIT.

ALSC President’s Program Featuring Melba Pattillo Beals

Monday, July 13, 8:00 - 9:30 a.m.

At the age of 15, Melba Pattillo Beals walked her way into the history books as one of the nine courageous students who faced down furious segregationists, the Arkansas National Guard and the Governor of Arkansas in order to integrate Little Rock Central High School in 1957. She has written two bestselling books as a result of her experience, "Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock Central High School" and its sequel, "White is a State of Mind: Freedom is Yours to Choose." Beals began her career at the age of 17 writing articles for major newspapers and magazines. She earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and worked as a news reporter for San Francisco's public television station, KQED, and for the NBC affiliate, KRON-TV. Beals has also written numerous articles for periodicals including People, Essence and the San Francisco Examiner and is the author of a primer on public relations, "Expose Yourself: Using the Power of Public Relations to Promote Your Business and Yourself," which was an industry bestseller. In 1998, the nine students who integrated Little Rock’s Central High School were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest and most distinguished civilian honor. Beals is currently professor and chair of the Communications Department at Dominican University of California. She and her daughter, Kellie, are writing the screenplay for a feature film based on Warriors.
Sponsored by ALSC Charlemae Rollins Endowment.

Lisa Scottoline

Monday, July 13, 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Lisa Scottoline is the Edgar-Award winning, bestselling author of "Lady Killer," "Daddy's Girl," "Dirty Blonde" and many more. She currently has 25 million copies of her books in print in the United States and she is published in 25 countries. Lisa loves her job and it shows in her writing. Her bestselling novels, set in Philadelphia and featuring gutsy and resilient female characters, have thrilled and entertained readers with page-turning action and her trademark wit and humor. Lisa has created an array of unforgettable characters, and continues to add to the cast with each new book. Many of her books feature the all-female firm of Rosato & Associates, while the rest introduce fresh, new, but equally compelling heroines all written in Lisa's unique voice. A lifelong Philadelphian, Lisa still lives in the Philadelphia area and enjoys writing about her hometown city. Sponsored by Macmillan.

Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.

Monday, July 13, 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

As a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor spent her life studying and teaching others about the complex beauty of the human brain. But on the morning of December 10, 1996, her life took an unexpected turn: she experienced a massive stroke when a blood vessel exploded in the left side of her brain. In her book "My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey," Dr. Taylor tells of her unique, and somewhat ironic, journey into and back out of the silent abyss of the wounded brain. The book shares details of her stroke and the eight years it took to completely repair her mind and recalibrate her understanding of the world, according to the insights she gained from her intimate experience with an injured brain. Today Dr. Taylor is a neuroanatomist affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. She is the national spokesperson for the mentally ill at the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (Brain Bank) and the consulting neuroanatomist for the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute. Since 1993, she has been an active member of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Jill Bolte Taylor shares her story as part of Oprah’s “Soul Series” on XM Satellite Radio (May 12, 2008). Her story has also been featured on the PBS program “Understanding the Amazing Brain” and she was a featured speaker at the TED conference in February 2008. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana. Sponsored by Penguin.

PLA President's Program Featuring Cokie Roberts

Monday, July 13, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.

Cokie Roberts is a political commentator for ABC News and a senior news analyst for National Public Radio. From 1996 to 2002, she and Sam Donaldson co-anchored the weekly ABC interview program, “This Week.” In addition to broadcasting, Roberts, along with her husband Steven V. Roberts, writes a weekly column syndicated in newspapers around the country by United Media. Both are also contributing editors to USA Weekend, and together they wrote "From This Day Forward," an account of their now more than 40-year marriage and other marriages in American history. The book immediately went onto the New York Times bestseller list, following a six-month run on the list by Roberts's first book on women in American history, "We Are Our Mothers' Daughters." Roberts is also the author of the bestselling "Founding Mothers," the companion volume to "Ladies of Liberty." A mother of two and grandmother of six, she lives with her husband in Bethesda, Maryland. Sponsored by HarperCollins.